cancer drug

Roche drug more effective on smokers than non-smokers: study

(Newser) -
An experimental drug is actually more effective against lung cancer in patients who smoke than those who never have, Reuters reports. MPDL3280A, a Roche drug, is "great news for lung cancer patients," who are notoriously difficult to treat, researchers say; one oncologist says early-stage trials suggest it is...
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More than 100 sign piece decrying costs to patients

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More than 100 cancer specialists from more than 15 countries are joining together to call for lower drug prices, suggesting that the current prices—which can range as high as $138,000 a year—are unconscionably high, and could be seen as profiteering. "Advocating for lower drug prices is...
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...warn experts. But the public may be OK with that

(Newser) -
The FDA's commissioner has been touting the agency's speedy approval of new medicines—but it has brought risky drugs to market, according to two drug-safety experts. Specifically, Thomas J. Moore and Curt D. Furberg found problems with cancer drug Caprelsa, multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya, and stroke prevention drug...
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FDA OKs imports of doxorubicin, methotrexate substitutes

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Though the FDA cautions that "we're not out of the woods," it today announced that dangerous shortages of two cancer drugs are being addressed. Stores of the drugs in question—doxorubicin and methotrexate—became dangerously low after the company that made them closed its Ohio manufacturing facility...
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Bexarotene removes plaque built up on brain

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Scientists were "shocked and amazed" at the effects of a common cancer drug in battling Alzheimer's in mice. The disease causes a buildup of plaque in the brain—but just hours after mice received bexarotene, the plaque began to disappear and the mice got smarter, AFP reports. The...
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New drug combos delay tumor growth in advanced cases

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Two new studies mark what could be the biggest breakthrough in treating breast cancer in more than a decade, researchers say. Both involve combining drug therapies that attack tumors in different ways, significantly delaying the time until women with advanced breast cancer became sicker, the AP reports. One treatment held...
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Hormone-based cancer drug ironically developed in UK

(Newser) -
How is Abdel Basset al-Megrahi still breathing? UK doctors gave the convicted Lockerbie bomber just three months to live when he was released two years ago, but Libyan doctors have kept him alive with a brand-new hormone-based cancer drug called Abiraterone , a medic in Tripoli tells the Daily Telegraph . Abiraterone...
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Both can significantly increase survival for those with metastatic melanoma

(Newser) -
Two new drugs offer new hope to patients with metastatic melanoma, the typically lethal advanced form of skin cancer. The trial of PLX4032, or vemurafenib, was so successful that the study was halted after three months so that all patients could receive the new drug, the Los Angeles Times reports....
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New technique neutralizes 'undruggable' factor

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Scientists believe they have found a way to neutralize a protein involved in cancer formation that was previously considered "undruggable." The researchers, experimenting on mice, created chemical "staples" to mold snippets of protein into shapes capable of disrupting the protein's function. The protein is linked to runaway...
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(Newser) -
Major drug companies are tying their fortunes to cancer like never before, the New York Times reports. The firms—inspired by advancements in science as well as the high prices cancer drugs command—are pouring unprecedented resources into the search for new cancer drugs. The drug giants hope cancer treatments...
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Just 3% of adult patients take part in studies

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Cancer death rates have changed little in the past 40 years, and one big reason often goes unremarked on, experts say: only 3% of adult cancer patients participate in studies of treatments, the New York Times reports. More than a fifth of trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute couldn’...
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Long-shots are risky to fund, so grants go to less ambitious studies

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If you're a cancer researcher, it's harder to get money to investigate a potentially field-changing question than to find out whether a food's tastiness affects dieting. The reason is simple but problematic: With limited funding available and lots of research to do, grant-givers don't want to lose money on a...
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PARP inhibitors show potential to transform understanding of cancer

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A new class of drugs in development represents the biggest cancer breakthrough in a decade, Robert Bazell writes at NBC. In a study causing much excitement in the medical world, breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer patients treated with Olaparib, one of a group of drugs known as PARP inhibitors, had...
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(Newser) -
More promising news has emerged from this weekend’s international cancer conference in Florida: Researchers unveiled a drug that shows early promise in fighting the most deadly form of skin cancer. The experimental PLX4032 targets tumor cells that carry a mutation found in 60% of malignant melanomas, and in the...
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First-of-its-kind drug slows, stops tumor growth

(Newser) -
A first-of-its-kind drug has been developed to fight genetic breast cancer, with an initial round of human trials showing “very promising” results, reports the Times of London. The drug Olaparib works by blocking a protein that makes cancer cells containing the genetic default unable to repair themselves. The drug...
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1 in 50 lack matchable fingerprints worldwide

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The side effects of a drug to treat cancer led to a Singapore man being detained for hours by airport security officials who couldn’t find his fingerprints, USA Today reports. The drug capecitabine causes hand-foot syndrome, in which the skin peels off; the man was finally allowed through after...
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Cancer drug could be used to lower humans' alcohol tolerance

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What if your genes determined how much of a tolerance you had to alcohol—and you could take a drug that would turn those genes on or off? That scenario may not be far from reality: researchers studying fruit flies have discovered a gene called "happyhour" that renders...
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